Hundreds of sub postmasters in Oxfordshire fear for the future of their businesses after the Government announced a wave of cost-cutting closures yesterday.

There are 14,000 post offices in the UK and Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling announced that 2,500 - 18 per cent of the total - would close under a restructuring of the network.

If the closures are spread evenly across the country, then Oxfordshire could lose about 33 of its 188 post offices from next summer.

But no details were given of which post offices will close, and there will be a three-month period of consultation before any final decision is made. Royal Mail spokesman Sue Dakin said: "There's no existing list of targeted post offices."

The Government said there would be a £1.7bn investment package over five years, but has been forced to announce the latest closures because some branches have so few customers. Those sub-postmasters who are forced to close could receive a £60,000 compensation package.

The Department of Trade and Industry says that a range of criteria will be applied to decide which post offices will close. It said that 99 per cent of the population should live within three miles of a post office, and 90 per cent should be within one mile, but "local conditions" will also be taken into account.

Christine Donnelly, the secretary of the Oxford and District branch of the National Federation of Sub Postmasters, who runs Great Milton Post Office, said: "Customers are extremely concerned, because there will be a hitlist eventually.

"If the Post Office closes too many branches we will lose our reputation as being the cornerstone of the local community.

"Closing more rural and urban branches will inevitably put more pressure on main post offices like the one in St Aldate's, Oxford, where people are often queuing out of the door."

Pakeera Rathan, 32, who runs the post office and CostCutter shop in Old Marston Road, Oxford, said he did not know yet if the branch would survive.

He said: "This post office is a real lifeline for customers in the area, because all the other branches have closed.

"The post office and the shop support each other and it's hard for one of them to make a profit without the other."

Gillian Long, 55, the sub-postmistress at Aston post office, in west Oxfordshire, said: "We're only a mile-and-a-half from Bampton post office, so if the Post Office uses a distance criteria to make a decision we could have to go. It would be a sad end to the family business."

Post Office Ltd lost £2m a week in 2005-6 and this year the loss is expected to be about £4m a week.

Keith Mitchell, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, described the closure plan as "short-sighted" and added: "There's a strong community aspect to post offices. Often they're the only facility in a village and they're much valued.

"Many are based in shops that may also have to close."